“It was an ordinary moment on a mundane day when I realized that the darkness was back. I’d run into a friend who works at my doctor’s office, and as she checked me out, she asked how I was doing. I wanted to simply say, ‘Fine,’ but I couldn’t keep the tears from filling my eyes….”
Read More“My military uniform clung to my skin in the uncharacteristically hot and humid weather as my mind pressed in on the question that had been floating through my head. Finally, it landed: ‘What am I doing here?’”
Read MoreI am thankful for a God who is re-teaching me to fall in love with Him, not just my own puppet version of Him, and for those who run with me in this beautiful marathon of life with all of its bumps and twists and turns.
Read More“At 28 (almost 29) years old, with a 10-month-old daughter, a husband of 2 years, a mortgage, 3 books published, 40+ speaking engagements a year, a car note, half a Master’s degree, and more stress than I sometimes know what to do with, it’s becoming more and more evident, that following where the Lord leads is the only recipe to success that ever works…”
Read MoreOur new autumn letter series.
Read More"Doubting my faith was never part of my plan. ...I thought that the number of hours I’d banked in Mass, confession, rosaries or ministry would protect me from this."
"At 16-years-old, I was raped by a boy who decided that he could determine my worth. For two and a half years, I plunged into a deep darkness. ...I was ashamed and I remember wondering how the Lord could possibly love me like this…”
Read More“Life took an unexpected turn when the loud, outgoing, talkative me was no longer able to talk. Yup. You read that right. After months of struggling with hoarseness and voice fatigue…”
Read More"I was a sophomore in college, and even before setting foot on campus, I decided the Church had nothing to offer me…”
Read More"When you look at the way Jesus spoke about the Father, it felt intimate and personal. This is the type of love God has for every one of us too…”
Read More"I'm ashamed to admit that I have questioned and argued with God intensely in small areas and in large ones. Are you there God? Do you even exist? If you are there, do you care about me at all? These questions and others have regularly echoed in my heart…”
Read More"When in the light of God's own words of love, I intimately shared my temptations to atheism, God responded by showing me what it was to be in love with him…”
Read More“Dearest Sister, I am writing this letter to you from a crowded coffee shop on a rainy Monday afternoon in Boston. It’s my day off, but like most of my days off in the last month, it doesn’t quite feel like one…”
Read MoreFor as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be less Asian. Less foreign. Less other. So, I hid. I hid any trace of culture. My senior year of high school, I realized that I hid and ignored my ethnicity so well, that I forgot I was even intentionally hiding it. It became a way of life.
Read More"I was sitting in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting the other day - it was a women’s only meeting - and I was struck by how honest, vulnerable and real everyone’s shares were. I wondered if I had been to any Catholic women’s gatherings where…"
Read More“My mom worked as a banker in Mexico, and we lived a stable life, along with the help and support from family members. Throughout the years, my mom experienced a lot of fear and trauma... Her last experience where she got held at gunpoint, was the last straw…”
Read MoreA few years ago, on a fairly ordinary, cloudy Thursday afternoon, I went to the dentist. The dental hygienist was pleasant enough, and asked the fairly ordinary and benign question, ‘How’s your day going?’ as she rummaged through her supplies. I replied, ‘It’s been alright.’ She nodded without looking up. And in that moment I was flooded with a loneliness I’d never known before.
That morning I had gotten civilly divorced…”
Read More“I loved my faith then, and I love it now. I love Truth. But I struggled to reconcile my boldness with the quiet, docile picture of Mary that every song at church seemed to paint. I thought that’s all the Church envisioned for women.”
Read More"With each successive birth however, I struggled to bond with my babies, and I winced at the barrage of opinions coming from social media, 'experts,' and many well-meaning family and friends."
Read More“I would like to share with you, a story of hardship that started when I was a young child, and I have lived with my entire life. In fact, it is a struggle I am dealing with today. It is something I have come to embrace and accept. It's also a challenge and responsibility I have been given to help others who may face isolation, exclusion or loneliness. My hope is that it will inspire you not to give up during the toughest times in your life…”
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